One week on straight 30 in my 300M

[Whimsey]

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I just came back from AutoZone to pick up a can of R134a. I glanced at the price of Valvoline SAE30 and it was $3.09 a quart; not exactly a cheap oil.

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Wow! When I paid $2.59 at the "no name auto parts store" for Vavoline SAE 30 SM oil I thought it was highway robbery

! But I guess it wasn't. However I use the Valvoline 30 wt in my power washer motor not my vehicle. Here in NJ straight 30 weight oil's application is limited for vehicles needless to say.

Whimsey

 

[Lonnie]

This is beginning to sound like a VW-Bug thread.

 

[Volvohead]

A straight 30 should run just fine in the Carolinas this time of year. I still like a straight 40 in many marine applications for some of the same reasons.

But the benefit of a well-blended multivis formula should become apparent in a few more months, and more so the further north one operates.

These aren't the VIIs of the '70s anymore. There's no need to run a summer oil year round in 2007.

 

[Steve S]

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So enough of the 30 wt oil hangs on the bearings to instantly develop hydrodynamic lubrication at cold startup... while a 5w oil would drain out of the bearings so they rattle till the oil is pumped up? That seems to go against all the thinking about using a light weight oil that can flow quickly through the oil galleries at start up.

I assume that if you waited a few days between starts on your 30wt it would eventually drain down and result in the familiar bearing rattle? Could I conclude that if I start my car every day that it may actually be better to run a straight 30? Could I be causing more start-up wear by using my 5w-30 oil that drains down?

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How about the oil that is left on the bearings etc is thicker . The oil and cold start wear is not worrying about unless the oil is too heavy for the ambient temps. The start up wear comes mostly from other things.

 

[Steve S]

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Just as side note years ago wife had a Chevette bought it 2nd hand off dealer exlease car, dealer had serviced from new the oil they used was Petro -Canada 20-20 , straight 20 weight year round I did the same never any problems.

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20 wt is metric for straight 30 wt.

 

[Panzerman]

I have to congradulate you G man on trying the straight 30. I always thought it would be fine in a climate such as ours, but even Mr. Heavy oil, me, didnt have the guts to try it. Iam glad its working out and hope alot of people who considered these oils obsolete will re-evaluate the good points on these thicker oils. I thought you had 300 with a hemi or do you have both?

 

[02zx9r]

Back in 1991 I had 1 nissan hardbody pickup and my dad was teaching me how to change oil and he used sae 30 believe valvoline really cant remember and that is what I used for about a year before I joined the navy and my truck or none of his vehicles ever had any oil related issues. that was in alexandria LA by the way

 

[G-MAN]

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I have to congradulate you G man on trying the straight 30. I always thought it would be fine in a climate such as ours, but even Mr. Heavy oil, me, didnt have the guts to try it. Iam glad its working out and hope alot of people who considered these oils obsolete will re-evaluate the good points on these thicker oils. I thought you had 300 with a hemi or do you have both?

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Just have the 300M with the SOHC 3.5 HO. And I have to tell you, if I were to get one the new 300s, I'd probably go with the same engine instead of the HEMI. IMO, the 3.5 HO is one of the finest engine designs ever. Period. It's bulletproof.

A modern SM SAE 30 is generally blended on the low side of the 30 weight viscosity, so it's not really a "thicker" oil than a 5w30 or 10w30--at least not at operating temps.

The real test is going to be running this stuff through the winter and then seeing how the UOA looks.

 

[Panzerman]

You are not the first to tell me about that 3.5. My nieghbor has one in a charger and loves it. I think that is the engine they should spend thier hybrid technology on instead of the Hemi. The Hemi is a nostalgic marketing dream but that is about it, even with the MDS, its never going to be a economical to own engine. Its a powerhouse that passes everything but gas station.

 

[G-MAN]

Update: Still not a single incident of bearing rattle on cold start up. I've owned this car for five years and this is unprecedented.